Tom Bradley is excited about the new opportunity with the Steelers.The Steelers hired Tom Bradley as the team's new defensive backs coach.

“I want to thank Coach (Mike) Tomlin and the entire Steelers organization for this opportunity,” said Bradley. “I am excited to be a part of such a rich tradition here. We have a great nucleus in the defensive backs room, and my goal is to help this group continue to grow and develop as we all work toward one goal.”

Bradley, a former defensive back at Penn State University, joined the coaching ranks in 1979 as a graduate assistant at Penn State, and over 30 years at the school worked his way up to defensive coordinator from 2000-2011, and the interim head coach in 2011.

Under Bradley’s guidance, Penn State’s defenses were regularly among the top in the national rankings. From 2004-09 he led Penn State to six consecutive Top 15 finishes in total and scoring defense, and from 2004-11 Penn State held 53 of its 88 opponents to 17 points or fewer, including 10 games in the 2009 season.

In addition, during the span from 2004-11, Penn State’s defense ranked in the Top 10 nationally in points allowed seven times and the Top 20 in total defense seven times. The 2008 Penn State defense was one of only four groups to rank in the Top 10 nationally in rushing, total and scoring defense, as well as lead the Big 10 in both rushing and total defense.

During his time at Penn State the Nittany Lions had 13 double-figure win seasons, 20 seasons with at least nine wins, 27 bowl appearances and won two National Championships. He was named the Rivals Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2008 and the Associated Press Defensive Coordinator of the Year in 2005.

Bradley spent the 2014 season at West Virginia University where he served as the senior associate head coach. He was the defensive coordinator at UCLA from 2014-17.

In his first season at UCLA the Bruins defense gave up just 4.9 yards per play, the lowest in the Pac-12 conference. The secondary led the conference in fewest yards per game and in team pass defense efficiency. The Bruins matched the 4.9 yards per game in 2016, tying for second in the Pac-12.

Bradley is originally from Johnstown, Pa., and was inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in May of 2014.

Bradley is replacing Carnell Lake, who stepped down to spend more time with his family.

He might turn out to be a decent coach but I’m just not excited about the fact that his name sounds way too close to being Tom Brady.

Slapstick

02-08-2018, 06:13 PM

He might be a good fit...he collaborated with the Steelers some when he was with Penn State, IIRC...

I don’t know about a “great” hire, but I do believe that he could be a great teacher, working with our young DBs...

As far as protecting a monster, I try to give all of those former PSU coaches the benefit of the doubt...unfortunately, they are all subject to being painted with that brush...it cost Greg Schiano the HC job at Tennessee....

Eddie Spaghetti

02-08-2018, 06:19 PM

actually it's just 2 people that were painted with that brush. schiano and bradley.

and that was sworn testimony from mcQueary which carries alot of weight in my book

and I know all about what it cost schiano as I live in Knoxville. kudos to the people of Tenn for keeping schiano away from their university

Steelerphile

02-08-2018, 07:52 PM

I like the hire because I've listened to Tom Bradley on many sports radio shows over the years when he was an assistant at Penn State and a top recruiter and when he was being considered to be head coach of Pitt. He is personable, sounds great in interviews. He comes across as very knowledgeable and having strong leadership abilities. I am little curious of his age because it seems that he has been around a long time.

buccoray61

02-08-2018, 08:00 PM

I like the hire because I've listened to Tom Bradley on many sports radio shows over the years when he was an assistant at Penn State and a top recruiter and when he was being considered to be head coach of Pitt. He is personable, sounds great in interviews. He comes across as very knowledgeable and having strong leadership abilities. I am little curious of his age because it seems that he has been around a long time.

He's 61 or 62. I'm like you it seems he's been around forever.

Slapstick

02-08-2018, 08:07 PM

If he can coach like Richard Mann, except for DBs, then I don’t care how old he is...

there will probably be a new rule about not allowing little kids in the locker room and such...............

Sword

02-12-2018, 10:51 AM

pathetic hire, IMO

quite possibly protected a monster

why the rush to hire this effing guy?

you are so right...first thing I thought of....I hope the Steelers did some investigation... more people from Penn State should be in prison....

Slapstick

02-12-2018, 10:59 AM

Yeah, he’s only been a coach for almost 40 years, calling some top ten defenses at the college ranks...

He’ll be a good teacher for our young DBs....

feltdizz

02-12-2018, 11:13 AM

I still see Tom Brady every time I read the headline.

and yeah, WTF with the PSU connection? Of all the people in the world we have to pick this guy?

squidkid

02-12-2018, 12:08 PM

I still see Tom Brady every time I read the headline.

and yeah, WTF with the PSU connection? Of all the people in the world we have to pick this guy?

yup, i dont get it.
i find it hard to believe that the knowledge he has over everybody else that could have been hired, outweighs the negative from hiring someone that was involved/around/knew about that sh!t.

feltdizz

02-12-2018, 12:26 PM

yup, i dont get it.
i find it hard to believe that the knowledge he has over everybody else that could have been hired, outweighs the negative from hiring someone that was involved/around/knew about that sh!t.

I know we probably have a connection with PSU due to it being the best in state football program but c'mon. A quick google has him all up in the middle of the scandal.

We will hear about this in the future.

Mick'sTeam

02-12-2018, 12:34 PM

actually it's just 2 people that were painted with that brush. schiano and bradley.

and that was sworn testimony from mcQueary which carries alot of weight in my book

and I know all about what it cost schiano as I live in Knoxville. kudos to the people of Tenn for keeping schiano away from their university

I live in NE Tennessee - I think the way the UT fans handled that situation was awful and made them look ridiculous, and the subsequent coaching search made the program look totally inept. There's actually more proof that Manning assaulted or acted inappropriately with that trainer than there is against Schiano and the scandal at PSU; yet those Vols homers have no issue looking past that.

Oviedo

02-12-2018, 12:53 PM

I still see Tom Brady every time I read the headline.

and yeah, WTF with the PSU connection? Of all the people in the world we have to pick this guy?

Got to give the board something to create a mountain out of a mole hill over. Just think of the complaint potential as soon as the secondary gives up a TD. It will be all about bad decisions and Penn State

Eddie Spaghetti

02-12-2018, 01:18 PM

I live in NE Tennessee - I think the way the UT fans handled that situation was awful and made them look ridiculous, and the subsequent coaching search made the program look totally inept. There's actually more proof that Manning assaulted or acted inappropriately with that trainer than there is against Schiano and the scandal at PSU; yet those Vols homers have no issue looking past that.

bully for you i guess

I see protecting a child rapist as a little worse than mooning an assistant trainer

to each their own

feltdizz

02-12-2018, 01:20 PM

I live in NE Tennessee - I think the way the UT fans handled that situation was awful and made them look ridiculous, and the subsequent coaching search made the program look totally inept. There's actually more proof that Manning assaulted or acted inappropriately with that trainer than there is against Schiano and the scandal at PSU; yet those Vols homers have no issue looking past that.

when did the Manning story hit the news?

I'm a UT fan and I didn't hear about it until he was in the NFL. I don't live in Knoxville though.

best believe if Schiano was already at UT and this news dropped they would probably protect and defend him. It's totally different IMO. Plus Schiano is an ass.

Mick'sTeam

02-12-2018, 01:40 PM

bully for you i guess

I see protecting a child rapist as a little worse than mooning an assistant trainer

to each their own

I guess that's one way to interpret that, but you clearly missed the point. That's certainly putting words in to my mouth that were not said. Good for you Eddie.

Mick'sTeam

02-12-2018, 01:44 PM

when did the Manning story hit the news?

I'm a UT fan and I didn't hear about it until he was in the NFL. I don't live in Knoxville though.

best believe if Schiano was already at UT and this news dropped they would probably protect and defend him. It's totally different IMO. Plus Schiano is an ass.

I completely agree on Schiano being an ass! My point, which was clearly misconstrued my others, was about the UT fan base reaction, which was seemingly uneducated. I'm not a UT fan (not originally from the area), but many of my die hard UT friends agree that the mob attack was a bad look and based on assumptions. They had valid arguments about Schiano not being a good fit from a coaching perspective, and him being an ass was their tipping point.

Eddie Spaghetti

02-12-2018, 01:45 PM

they didn't want a guy associated with child rape to be the face of the football program

good for them

sworn testimony is not assumptions but you can go with that if you want

RuthlessBurgher

06-14-2018, 02:24 PM

For Tom Bradley, it is back to the basics for the Steelers’ secondary

The Steelers’ new secondary coach isn’t overlooking the fundamentals as he starts to piece together the team’s revamped secondary.

By Jeff Hartman
Jun 14, 2018, 12:49pm EDT

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be sporting a revamped, and largely new, secondary when the 2018 season officially gets underway at training camp July 25th. This isn’t just with the personnel on the field, but also in the coaching staff.

Tom Bradley takes over where Carnell Lake left off, and brings with him a wealth of defensive knowledge, just not at the professional level. However, don’t look at this as a negative. Mike Tomlin spoke this offseason about how Bradley’s time in college football helped him become a better communicator and teacher.

This will be key as Bradley takes over a new, and young, secondary. Outside of veterans Joe Haden and Morgan Burnett, the Steelers’ defensive back half is made up of nothing but young players: Artie Burns, Mike Hilton, Cameron Sutton, Terrell Edmunds, Marcus Allen and Sean Davis.

Bradley will have his work cut out for him, and his first order of business will be focusing on the fundamentals.

“When you’re a college guy, if you’ve been in college all those years, you have to start off sometimes with 17-year-old old kids, so you have to start off with fundamentals,” Bradley told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’ve already had that problem here — I assume they know something just because they’ve been in the league a while. So we’ve gone back and done a lot of basic things. It’s a lot of fundamental work.”

This should be music to the fan base’s ears considering the lack of fundamentals the secondary had put on the field under Lake. Poor angles, horrible tackling technique and a lack of communication regularly left players vulnerable. Bradley is in charge of rectifying this situation, but isn’t worried about the youth he has in this area of the field.

“I’m very excited what we have going with the guys back there,” Bradley said. “The older guys have done a great job helping the younger guys get better. Even today, when I said to Terrell, how’s it going, he said, ‘It’s starting to slow down a little bit, coach, it’s starting to slow down a little bit.’ I think we’re on track.”

In the back of Bradley’s mind, and likely coming down from Mike Tomlin and Keith Butler, is always tackling. The importance of the secondary, often times the last line of defense, being able to bring down the ball carrier.

“Anytime you’re playing defense, there’s always things you want to eliminate. Eliminate big plays and missed tackles, you got a chance to be pretty good.”

Throughout his transition from college coordinator to professional position coach, many have wondered what the difference will be for him moving to the pros. Bradley suggests the change will be more for how the players handle their jobs rather than his coaching.

“When you’re in college, you’re hesitant to make as many different calls and changes because you don’t have the time to work on it because they got school and a lot of other things going on,” Bradley said. “Here, when you have them all day, you can add to the repertoire of the things you’re doing.”

All reports from players are things are going well with Bradley so far, but the real challenge, and litmus test, will be when the team gets on the field and has the opportunity to actually put his teachings into practice.